


Cronus Campaign

by PrincessofHarte



Series: Cronus Campaign Compendium [1]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: Aasimar, Blood Hunter, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Gen, Gnomes, Original Campaign, Original Player Characters, Shadar-Kai, gunslinger
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-09-15 23:47:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16943013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessofHarte/pseuds/PrincessofHarte
Summary: Aleiliera Saethwr searches the continent of Multia for answers on her origins and on the disappearance of her mother. For six years, she has been on her own, struggling with her heritage and her history, until she meets three strange men: a human gunslinger, a half-orc blood hunter, and a Shadar Kai rouge. Will she discover her purpose?(Or, I play dungeons and dragons for the first time and write out what happens and what my character thinks in order to play it better and look back on the campaign in the future. Aleiliera is my original character, but the story belongs to my DM.)





	1. En Media Res

Travelling through the continent on the whim of a dream, Aleiliera finds herself at the Inn Tavern, an in inn in Alphra.

She doesn't sleep well that night, as highlighted by her attitude the next morning. She woke on edge only to find a very drunk man interrupt her breakfast, vomit on the floor, and try to have sex with her. She panicked and cast Sacred Flame, instantly incinerating the man. Realizing what she had done, she turns to the other man and tries to subdue him without using magic. She doesn't succeed. Instead, another bar patron steps in with a sword and slices the man in two.

Aleiliera tries to leave as she exposed herself too much, but a man with a wolf and a half-ogre block her path while a man dressed in pink enters the building. Leon, the pink man, walks up to the bar maiden, while the man with the wolf inspects something Leon has. The man kicks Leon, breaking his leg. Aleiliera rushes over and casts Cure Wounds, healing Leon. Leon tries to thank her profusely until he notices her green eye. Then, he hastens to get away. Another man dressed in silver wonders why Aleiliera would help someone like Leon. She gives him a noncommittal response, frazzled, and hurries to leave.

Outside, she splits away from the men who leave the Inn Tavern with her, finding a local who could tell her the way to the library. This library, however, doesn't have many books on magic, as the local explained. She said it would be best to try in Rho instead. Before she could thank the woman, the man from earlier runs around, screaming something about Santa Claus and presents. She turns in the opposite direction, but overhears a guard looking for someone "in a hood." The emphasis on "hood" causes Aleiliera to have a panic attack.

The man in silver knocks the guard unconscious before they can find Aleiliera. Seeing the fried guard causes Aleiliera to run. She ends up trapping herself in an alleyway but the three people from earlier follow her. She doesn't trust them, but Ooga Jones Junior, the half orc, and FMJ, the human, did introduce themselves and FMJ did give her a cookie.

 

* * *

 

_The dreams started when I was 13. I didn’t understand them. They said I was meant for something more than just worship at home, that I needed to leave. They said I needed to leave soon. I didn’t listen. I should’ve told Mom. Within a week, these people came and they attacked me. They said that an aasimar will lead to nothing but suffering for everyone else, that sparing people from pain only causes more pain, so the only way people could live properly was to be in pain. They tried killing me._

 

* * *

 

Snapping out of her panic attack, she follows the men back to the Inn Tavern. Under the guise of Thaumaturgy changing her hair black and her eyes a human blue, she heals the drunk man who assaulted her and learns the name of the other man: Gerwin. She commits his name to memory until she can write it in her notebook.

She travels with the three men to the library where Aleiliera searches for any information on aasimars. While there, her Thaumaturgy spell dissipates and reveals her silver hair, thus alerting the guards to where she is. Before she can even open the Monster Manual she found, the library's walls cave inwards under the force of multiple siege engines. The windows and walls shattered, an elite paramilitary squad enters the library, helmed by a half-elf in gold armor.

The party immediately launches into the offensive, leading Ooga Jones Junior to be the first to fall. FMJ succumbs to getting high in an attempt to burn all of his weed and use it as a smoke screen. River, the Shadar Kai who stayed away from Aleiliera originally, tries to help her. He turns intangible and takes down the soldiers attacking his cat, Yin, and rushes over to Alieliera. However, he falls too.

Aleiliera is the last to go. Unable to cast any magic she learned, Aleiliera intrinsically casts Light on the nearest guard, blinding him. She ducks around him as more guards enter through broken windows, crossbows at the ready. Commander Rei Orila approaches Aleiliera, stepping over the body of Ooga Jones Junior. Aleiliera used a one-second Cronus Card to prevent River from dying and tried dragging Ooga Jones Junior out of the library but was unsuccessful. Aleiliera pleads with Commander Orila to let her heal the unconscious men around her, including Commander Orila's own soldiers, and promises she will go with her peacefully. Commander Orila says no. Instead, she offers Aleiliera clemency, stating that she will not harm they who do not harm her.

"You can't harm me," Aleiliera says, her voice clear. Light spills out of Aleiliera, taking her sight and shrouding her in wings of silver. Five soldiers shoot her with arrows, her wings singeing the floor as she falls unconscious.

 

* * *

 

_I don’t know what happened. I remember the sting of wind against my face as it hit my exposed nerves. I remember not being able to close my eyes or turn my head. Everything was sticky and hot and moving_ burned _but I couldn’t help but move. I remember there were a bunch of people with whips, maybe 15 of them. I remember my mother and something burning and a bright light. I don’t remember much else._

 

* * *

 

Several hours later, Aleiliera wakes up in a prison cell with Ooga Jones Junior, FMJ, and River. Murder Muffin the wolf and Yin the cat are nowhere to be found, along with their weapons and bags. Commander Orila wants to speak with Aleiliera before whatever trial she will subject the party to, but Aleiliera successfully fools Commander Orila into thinking Aleiliera is still knocked out. When she leaves, the party plans their escape.

Aleiliera screams, distracting the guards. They rush into the building while River hides the party with Thaumaturgy. Aleiliera scouts ahead through the rest of the prison, finding multiple people in multiple cells along with Murder Muffin and Yin. To free the familiars, River casts Magic Hand, stealing the keys from a guard, and Aleiliera casts Thaumaturgy again, opening the cell of a black-haired prisoner.

The prisoner immediately brandishes two knives and stabs one of his guards in the cheek. He shouts about his freedom, praising the Black Hand and screaming about assassinating the High King. Every guard in the western corridor rushes to the prisoner, apprehending him and creating the perfect distraction for River to free Yin and Murder Muffin.

Aleiliera continues scouting ahead, finding several soldiers guarding a large pentagram pedestal to the north and more prison cells to the east, every cell full. One cell holds a man in blue armor, chained to the walls and floors. He stares at Aleiliera, seeing her hidden in the darkness and shouts at her in Elvish, "When I escape, there will be carnage. Carnage! Carnage! Carnage!"

The soldiers stab at the blue-armored prisoner with a spear, trying to shut him up. They don't succeed. He continues shouting "Carnage!" and slowly cycles through multiple other languages.

The party continues through the eastern wing until they hear a crash behind them. The guards immediately begin screaming for backup as the blue-armored prisoner crashes through his cell, chains dragging behind them. Frantic, nine other guards storm ahead to the prisoner, weapons brandished. Aleiliera casts Guidance on one as he passes her; he doesn't even notice.

Guards sufficiently distracted, another prisoner, a thief named Aria, picks the lock to her cell and tosses a box to River, repaying him from some earlier debt. She thanks the party for distracting the guards despite their insistence that they didn't do anything and she flees. Hearing the prisoner roar "Carnage!" once more, the party does the same, fleeing upstairs to the second floor of the dungeon.

Aleiliera sinks against the wall, hiding behind a pillar with the rest of the party near her. Her anxiety only grew the longer she remained in the prison, and the escape of not one, but three prisoners not including herself causes a full-blown panic attack.

"Maybe we should just go back to the cell," she tells the party. "Can we go back to the cell? Please? Let's go back to the cell."

Murder Muffin noses Aleiliera, worried. Aleiliera buries her hands in Murder Muffin's fur, using the coarse texture to anchor herself and to help her calm down. Somehow, it works. This panic attack was short compared to the others. But her sentiment isn't forgotten. River agrees with Aleiliera, saying the party should go back to the cell. Before they can move, Aleiliera flinches; her connection to one of the soldiers breaks with a snap, her Guidance spell fizzled.

Heavy boots clank as the party hears the prisoner clamber up the stairs. The party runs around the corner, hiding just out of sight of the stairwell but in full view of a patrolling guard. He stares at the party, confused, before he looks towards the stairs. The prisoner breaks the door frame as he shouts, opening his mouth and spewing purple gas. The guard is unconscious before he can draw his sword.

Still hidden, Aleiliera summons a Spiritual Weapon, a golden axe wreathed in light and bejeweled with rubies and sapphires. She lowers her hand, swinging the axe down and cleaving the prisoner in two. The armor falls apart, revealing an empty husk of an iron golem.

Aleiliera rushes to the guard's side, stabilizing him. Prior to deciding what to do next and where to go, two patrolling guards happen upon them, see the downed guard, the broken golem, and the glowing axe, and walk away. In their place is Commander Orila. She applauds the party for taking down their most troublesome prisoner, her claps slow, her face grim.

"I was going to deliver your punishment for thievery, murder, and treason," Commander Orila begins, "But the King has other plans."

"I haven't done any of that!" Aleiliera interjects. "I haven't stolen anything and I haven't committed treason! I don't even know these people. We've only known each other for thirty minutes!"

"But you did commit murder, Angel Girl. We have witnesses saying you went back to the crime scene."

"That wasn't me!" Aleiliera hides behind FMJ. "I heard that it was a girl with black hair and blue eyes. My hair is silver. And she spoke with an Elvish accent!"

"But you do speak Elvish," she says in Elvish.

"I don't speak Elvish." Aleiliera does, in fact, speak Elvish fluently. She's just lies to avoid being remembered.

"Then how did you know what I was saying?"

"I didn't! I've spent enough time around elves to know what Elvish sounds like."

"Show me what you look like."

Aleiliera tugs her hood down against her forehead. "No, thank you."

Commander Orila sighs, acknowledging the lie but not pressing on it. "Anyways, were you three--" she gestures to FMJ, Ooga Jones Junior, and River "--involved with the rebellion at Casa Fallenore?"

"No," FMJ says (though he too is lying to save himself).

"Pity. The King was hoping you were. He wants you to retrieve a locket and find the leader of the rebellion, Mira Farlana." Commander Orila puts her hands behind her back. "The King wanted to send the most horrible prisoners. You've taken care of him, so you'll have to do. Your duty to the Crown is to go to Casa Fallenore on Orders of the King. I do not care if you die out there. You're not my problem. This is your punishment." She narrows her eyes and explains their mission.

 

* * *

 

_Mere says Dad found me surrounded by ashes and charred wood. The building I was in was unrecognizable. There was nothing around me in a near complete circle, but the ground looked like there were imprints of something much larger resting where I lay. Mere took me to her house because Dad said the Lliira sanctum wouldn’t take me; I wasn’t happy enough for them. Mere said that my eye bled green for days before the swelling went down._

 

* * *

 

**_Aleiliera hides behind FMJ and Murder Muffin, knowing that after all this is over that the Crown will exploit her for her divine nature. The party, thankfully, was unconscious when she turned Radiant, but who knows what they'll think. She can't do anything right. She can't understand that dream, she can't understand her heritage, and she can't get away. And_ they _have hold of one of her Holy Symbols._**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my first Nat 20 kill was that iron golem. I've only played Aleiliera twice and this is what happened. I also never thought I would have to explain that women hide things between their boobs when we don't want things discovered, but here we are. Tonight was unexpected.
> 
> Murder Muffin is a girl btw. She is the bestest girl. Yin is the bestest boy.


	2. The Fallen Heir

In Commander Orila’s office, she declares that the three prisoners with bounties, “Angel Girl,” and another prisoner will be part of the Super High Intensity Team Squad, otherwise known as the SHITS. The fifth member of the SHITS is a gnome named Raven, a man crazy enough to turn himself in for his own bounty as a reward. Aleiliera questions Commander Orila’s logic of putting five prisoners in a group together with no supervision, especially when there is no proof that the “prisoners” even did anything. Asking where the logic was in Commander Orila’s plan, Aleiliera argues again that she did not commit murder at the Inn Tavern. Commander Orila argued that Aleiliera was an accomplice to the murder of Gerwin because eye witnesses stated that someone with Aleiliera’s appearance happened to be in the Inn Tavern at the time. Aleiliera countered that if she were an accomplice because she was at the Inn Tavern, then so were all the other people who were witnesses to the crime. She continued, stating that green cloaks are fairly popular and it isn’t her fault that someone else wore a similar cloak.

Faced with Aleiliera’s sound logic, Commander Orila decides Aleiliera can go free. However, Commander Orila does not trust the four prisoners on their own. She requests Aleiliera watch over the prisoners and head to Rho to try to find a lead on the traitor to the throne. The lead, Commander Orila said, would be identified by a golden bracelet she always wore. Aleiliera agrees to watch over the SHITS and make sure they complete their service. In return, Commander Orila guarantees her complete access to the royal library. (Under her breath, she mentions having Aleiliera speak with librarian James Earnhart to see how James would react considering he is always awkward around Rei herself, but that is neither here nor there.) No one but Commander Orila and the High King know the SHITS exist.

Aleiliera herds the four men out of the prison and back into the Alphra sunlight. They head to a tailor’s. FMJ is obsessed with the gnome, decreeing that Raven needed a luchador’s mask, not that anyone knew what that was. FMJ pays for it out of pocket, describing the mask to the tailor. When he tries requesting a backpack in the shape of the gnome and when Raven talks about wanting to kill the tailor, Aleiliera herds the SHITS away from the tailor and out of Alphra to Rho.

At the crossroads between Betan, Alphra, Rho, and Signa, a familiar face appears: dressed in pink and wielding a crossbow, Leon walks up from a lamppost. Aleiliera hides behind Ooga Jones Junior while FMJ approaches Leon. Leon greets the party, wishing to go with them to Rho even though none of them indicated their destination. Raven holds out his backpack by the straps, swinging it and preparing to attack Leon, but a crossbow bolt slams into Leon’s shoulder, knocking him to the ground. The party turns defensive as four people with inky black hands brandish weapons and attack the party. Ooga Jones Junior attacks the nearest one with his flaming sword. FMJ and Raven go after the one in the nearest tree line. River skulks around, ambushing the third. Aleiliera attacks the fourth with her Spiritual Weapon and rushes to Leon, healing him again and helping him to his feet.

Raven and FMJ struggle with taking down their assassin. For some reason, FMJ chooses not to use his guns or his swords, but to instead attack with improvised weapons. Raven grows to eight feet in height and attacks the assassin with everything he has, literally; Raven’s backpack incapacitates the assassin while Raven’s teeth decapitate him. Ooga Jones Junior slices his assassin in half while Aleiliera hurries to his side, healing him while he defends her from the fourth assassin. River immobilizes his assassin, pinning her to the ground. Raven throws a javelin at her, shattering her knee. Leon runs off to Alphra to find the guards.

FMJ and Raven approach the assassin, trying to press her for information, but their intimidation techniques are brutish and crude; Raven threatened to shove a cookie into the assassin’s eye. The assassin speaks, but she doesn’t speak to the boys. She speaks to Aleiliera. She tells Aleiliera that her name is Jia and that the Black Hand hired her and the three other assassins to murder Ooga Jones Junior, FMJ, River, and Raven, and to bring back their heads so that they could obtain the reward money from the bounty on their heads. They never went after the High King as there was no money in it; Tron Le Gacy is an insane fool who had a grudge against the monarchy and does not represent the Black Hand. Because the assassins didn’t succeed, they would be killed. Jia wants Aleiliera to kill her right then with her golden axe because Aleiliera is being kind to Jia and—unlike the others in the party—doesn’t hide her face. Jia believes that death by Aleiliera’s hand is the best option; the Black Hand would kill Jia anyway, only they would do it tortuously. The Black Hand’s leader, Elizabeth, would guarantee it.

Jia is alone in the world. Her parents are dead. Her heritage is nothing. Her future is barren. Aleiliera heals the poison the Black Hand forced into Jia’s body and gives Jia hope for the future. Aleiliera reminds Jia that while there are people stronger than her, she is also stronger than other people. She no longer has to work for the Black Hand. She can become a florist! Aleiliera convinces Jia to take a second chance at life.

Aleiliera heals the other three assassins, bringing them back from death. She asks that Commander Orila help them. They did not have an easy life. Commander Orila cannot promise anything, but she does say that the court system will take care of them and she’ll do what she can to see if Jia can become a florist in time. Commander Orila is slightly relieved that the Black Hand isn’t actively trying to kill the High King, but still worried about the traitor.

Wounds healed, the SHITS head to Rho, arriving in the late evening. A woman dressed like a priestess greets the party, welcoming them to the Holy Alliance. She introduces the building behind her as the temple of the god Arawn and as a place where every deity gets along. Aleiliera views this with suspicion. Loviatar killed Lliira’s husband. They would never be able to get along, right? When she voices her concern, the woman responds, “It’s clear you haven’t seen the light of all the gods. Please enter and see the truth.”

 

* * *

 

_After Mere died, I went to the next town over. I went to their library, searching for history of aasimars and looking for spells and purpose and trying to find my mom. Most libraries are the same, saying aasimars are creatures heralded for their births and are meant to do great things, but I still haven’t found a book that talks about One Great Thing an aasimar has done, just things done by others in their names. Aasimars are supposed to be great and signify the end to something, supposed to fight evil or complete a prophecy. They're_  rare. _I’m supposed to protect people, but I can’t._

 

* * *

 

Deciding that she does not trust the priestess, Aleiliera follows the SHITS to the Pub Inn where the four men proceed to become very wasted. River breaks a piano, pressing down on the keys hard enough to make it explode. Raven tries flirting with everyone, only stopping when he is dragged upstairs to his room after Aleiliera threatens him bodily harm. Ooga Jones Junior turns into a sleepy drunk. FMJ tries his hardest to avoid Raven’s wiles.

Aleiliera stays downstairs as the night winds down, petting Murder Muffin and reading the Monster Manual from the Alphra library. Suffice to say, she doesn’t find any new knowledge about aasimars. At the same time, she seeks out more information on about the “lead.” According to one of the Inn’s bar maidens, there were two women who wore golden bracelets. The first was the Dread Witch in the Dead Woods, the second, a girl in the Crescent Moon Guild. Considering the Crescent Moon Guild doubled as Rho’s library, Aleiliera decided the SHITS needed to go there.

The next morning, thankfully with none of the SHITS hungover, the group decides what they want to do in Rho. Aleiliera prioritizes the library, but everyone else wanted to see the other guilds. Taking a group vote, the SHITS head to the Crescent Moon Guild, several members looking for books not in the Alphra library. Ooga Jones Junior steals _Fishing for Dummies_ for FMJ while Raven steals a battered copy of _The Art of Drunk Kung Fu_. Aleiliera wanders the library, picking up the books _Volo’s Guide to Aasimars_ and _The Book of the Occult and All Things Dark Magic_ while she searches for the girl with the bracelet. The man at the library’s entrance said her name was Ira, and that while she wasn’t a member, she did come to the library every day.

Ira stands at a bookshelf, flipping through one book before putting it away. Aleiliera bumps into her, apologizing and asking for Ira’s help. She says that they both have a mutual friend in Alphra who sent Aleiliera as an envoy to see what Ira knows. At this point, no one in the guild hall is paying attention to them. Ira leads Aleiliera to a private corner in the stacks of the shelves. When Aleiliera questions Ira and what she knows about the potential coup against the king, Ira denies knowing anything. She raises her voice to a higher pitch, trying to make herself seem small and vulnerable. Aleiliera switches tactics, asking her what she knows about Mira Farlana. Ira lies between her teeth.

FMJ wanders through the bookshelves, pausing to see Aleiliera cornering Ira, shimmering flame in her right palm. Raven follows FMJ, still trying to seduce him. When Aleiliera threatens bodily harm, her eyes glowing from her Radiant Soul (though FMJ and Raven don’t see), they step in, blocking the way for Ira. Ira screams, creates an illusion of herself and pushes past Aleiliera and Raven. Aleiliera dispels the illusion and Raven attacks Ira, pinning her to the wall. Ira screams again, trying to attract other people to help her, but her voice is muffled between the books.

Aleiliera blinds Ira, dispelling the Sacred Flame magic to protect the books. Ira frees herself from Raven’s javelins and slaps her hands against the wall, opening a dimension door. FMJ shoots her with his crossbow, a rope tied to the end of the arrow pulling her back into the library and preventing her escape. FMJ and Raven attack her again, both men causing her more pain. Aleiliera tries to grapple her, but Ira flings her into Murder Muffin. The men attack again, emboldened and bloody; FMJ takes her eyesight while Raven takes her legs. The only reason she doesn’t die is because Aleiliera commanded they not kill her.

“Traitor!” Aleiliera cries down the library halls. “Traitor to the Crown!”

Ira wails, banging her hands on the floor and summoning a wall of fire between herself, FMJ, and Raven. Aleiliera’s eyes shine brighter and her wings gather around her like dust in the air as she casts Beacon of Hope, calming the warlocks in the library enough for them to escape. As tinder creaks above them and the nearby books flare, Ira laughs. “Sure, you can save them,” she says, slumping forward, “but you can’t save yourselves!”

“Oh, fuck you!” Aleiliera flies over to Ira, gripping her by the waist and flying out of the building.  The rest of the SHITS follow suit, noticing nothing odd but Aleiliera’s eyes. With everyone outside, the six members of the Crescent Moon summon the water from the stream next to the guild and put out the fire, heading inside almost immediately to salvage what books they can.

Ira wheezes, her arm reaching out to Aleiliera. “My work here is done. Mistress Farlana is pleased with me. The Fallen King will rise once more and there’s nothing you can do. He’s already on his way here.”

“Who the fuck is the Fallen King?” Aleiliera demands, slapping her hand away.

Ira laughs again. “It won’t matter. Here, I die.” Her hand falls limp.

“No, fuck that.” Aleiliera glares and touches Ira’s shoulder, casting Spare the Dying. “I wasn’t done with you yet.” She also heals some of her wounds closed. “ _Talk_. Who is the Fallen King?”

“You…you brought me back to life?” The triumph in Ira’s cheeks sinks to distress and then pain, Raven deciding to kick her when she doesn’t answer.

“You’re not going to die. You’re going to tell me what I want to know. And then you’re going to prison.”

“I will die. Al’Xol has promised my death will be final.” Aleiliera bristles at the name, her hand gripping her quarterstaff tighter.

“Oh?” FMJ interjects. “You mean the Lich King? I know him. I can put in a good word for you. Make sure you stay alive.”

“Stay alive? Why would I ever—” Raven kicks Ira in the head again, knocking her life out of her lips again.

Aleiliera sidesteps away from FMJ, putting her quarterstaff between her and the gunslinger, and casts Spare the Dying again.

“Why? Why do you keep bringing me back to life?” Ira asks.

“You want to die. I’m not done with you yet. I’m not going to give you what you want. I’m going to keep bringing you back to life as many times as I need to. You will wish you were dead. And when I’m done with you, you’ll still be alive and left to live.”

Bloody tears squeeze out of Ira’s eye holes. “Who are you?”

“My name is Delilah,” Aleiliera lies. “You could’ve cooperated with me. You didn’t need to get hurt.” FMJ punctuates her speech by punching Ira in her stomach.

 

* * *

 

_The first name is Celene Morwind, a human. Celene lived in the moonlight and used it to set up pranks on unsuspecting people. I wasn't emotionally stable when we met, and Celene woke me from a nightmare. I guess I summoned Sacred Flame subconsiously. She was charred before I was fully awake. Her screams still haunt me and I still see Celene’s black hair darkened with ash in every sunlit shadow. I attended her funeral. I had no magic for days afterwards. I was only 15._

 

* * *

 

 

**_With the Crescent Moon Guild safe from harm, the SHITS secured their lead, a girl named Ira. Ira, however, refuses to talk, even under the torture of life. Aleiliera knows she'll suffer for this. She knows that misusing her gifts and refusing to sleep will cause her harm. She knows her deity does not approve of her. But there are no other leads. She'll be stuck with the SHITS if she can't get them to stop Mira Farlana. She can't be in another party again. She won't survive it._ **


End file.
